Navigation

User login

Syndicate

In Exile ..

Have you ever wondered what it means to be in exile ..You have heard of world leaders who have tried to fight against the the regimes in power who end up being exiled..

The other day I was reading in the newspaper how a kind gentleman spent Rs.3000/- for about ten cages of birds and then set them free. It was a very strange act...

People generally enjoy admiring the beauty of the captive, they feel a sense of satisfaction to see the animal struggle for its freedom, tire out and finally give up the struggle. The animal ends up tame cause it has no choice.

Owners of such caged animals say that they have spent time, money and effort to acquire this prized possession. So even if death is the only option for such animals, then only death will free it from the clasps of its Owner... Its a prized possession that speaks of social status or captive beauty.

This same owner will fight for human liberation rights, be a gentleman with friends and speak for the cause of humanity and religion. He will feel indignified if the cops arrest him or even if a car blocks his way in a traffic jam. He will make hue and cry about the bandhs that curtail human freedom!

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a friend.

He asked," Hey Lijoe, have you ever wondered why the Gold Fish dies so fast in your bowl? "

I tried to think that it did not like its surroundings, water got murky or I forgot to feed it or most probably I must have fed it too much!

But my friend retorted, " Lijoe imagine you are this gold fish. Now picturize your self in this fish bowl and look out.. What do you see? You see the beautiful world around you, you see the sky scrapers, you see the well manicured lawns, you see people walking around, you see the beautiful sky yet you can go nowhere! Your heart wishes to look over the edge, to see whats beyond the horizon.."

As I imagined this, I imagined myself as a fish, and I could imagine myself banging on the glass walls..trying to reach out...

I realized I cannot go anywhere, I have to live amidst the luxury but all tied up...

Is this what I want? How does it feel? I felt frustrated, I felt locked up, I felt sad.

I understood how a sugar patient would feel when he is inside a sweet shop, the contempt a cancer patient has when he watches people complain about life's difficulties!

I understood why the fish would die. It would die simply because it saw all this and yet had to live in that small bowl with no freedom to enjoy what the world offers. Since I am fed by my owner, I wait eagerly for his attention especially when I know I have no choice!

My heart dies, my soul dies. But does my master care? No! For him, I am his prized possession, whom he wants to enjoy the beauty or display to others, even if death only be the option in front.

I know my master would punish me if I tried to escape when he changes water in my fish bowl. He feels he is trying to do good for me, yet I am not accepting him. But does he realize how he would feel if he were in my place?

I have known friends who have ended up so frustrated. Tied up they became because of their commitments. Some have spent more money than they can ever find a source for and ended up doing wrong things. Others have entered wedded bliss only to realize, its more of a suffocation. Some have adjusted and survived, others have ended making both lives miserable. Yet the masters, the one with power, to decide, never realizes what needs to be done, until too late...

You have but one life, for you to live or to die. You have to choose ...

»

2803 reads

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Have seen a cartoon some time back, about how a fish commits suicide.. It can't jump into water for suicide.. Instead, it might get a balloon, and hang on it so that it will fly out to air, and thus die..

Heaven for one is Hell for another.. that's the order of the world.. And, our difficulty is to get our heaven into our hands within the short span of our life..